25 August, 2009

I just looked at the date of my last post- over a week ago. Where does the time go?

I have to say that my range of movement in my neck has pretty much returned to normal and I'm thankful for that. Things have been progressing a bit more each day since Saturday and today was "pain free". At least as far as the neck goes......I've been helping a mate paint the house and it has been a few years since I have scrambled up and down ladders/scaffolding/trestles as often as I have over the last four days. Makes for an interesting start to the early morning ride.....I didn't think one's muscles could shrink that much overnight.

And I also know why people pay professional tradespeople (read painters) to do this work. There is a lot of prep work involved- scraping, sanding, filling cracks and holes, more sanding, base coat application, more sanding, first coat, second coat......

Last road race for the season coming up on Sunday- double points on offer. Hope I can keep the muscles stretched after the next four days of painting- and that the painting is mostly done when Dee gets home- I just might save a few niggly bits for her just so she doesn't feel left out.

17 August, 2009

Started last Wednesday as near as I can remember- in the morning- just before 4:30- which is when my alarm goes off- (on those mornings when I don't wake up before it). I sat up in bed and turned my head to the left- that's where the bedside table is- that being the resting place for my glasses each night. Well I suppose I should say I tried to turn my head to the left.

As I turned, there was a sharp pain and almost the sensation of hitting a limit switch after turning about 1/8 of the way, "Sorry- that's forbidden territory. If you choose to proceed any further it will be under threat of immediate infliction of more pain."

Maybe I slept in a strange position- didn't seem like it but then again what would I know?- I was asleep. I put up with it Wednesday and Thursday and Friday- made an appointment with the Doc for Monday. If it doesn't clear up by Monday, I want it looked at. Saturday- same, Sunday- same, Monday off to the Doc's. Poke, poke, prod, press.....nothing untoward so it was off to the X-Ray folks for a bit of photography just to make sure there were no lingering skeletal injuries from the car accident last month.

Looks like it's off to the physio now as there is nothing showing. The one thing I can say is that at least I can still ride- as long as I'm outside and only have to do my traffic checks to the right.

15 August, 2009

It's a funny sensation when we get fog here. Depth of winter- usually coolish mornings and fairly high humidity. It just doesn't seem the right combination from what I grew up with in Nova Scotia- just ask Dee or Bluenoser. And unlike the Canadian East Coast where the fog swirls in from seaward, this is land based fog. When you go down along the beach here, there's not so much as a wisp of that ethereal cloud.

The fog I grew up with reminds me of Carl Sandburg's poem

Fog

The fog comes

on little cat feet

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

And because it's land based fog, it doesn't have that salty tang when you encounter it. And it just sort of appears- no rolling bank of grey advancing. It's like somebody had a giant aerosol can and decided, "Yep. That looks like a good spot. Let's just do a little bit of water vapour graffiti across this field and over the road."

It's thick- after about 200 metres in the fog on Thursday morning, my glasses had so much water on them I may as well have been looking through that pebbled glass they put in bathroom windows. And it ends almost as abruptly as a slammed door. One moment you can't see 20 metres and the next it's clear as.....Makes me really glad I have good lights front and rear.

Race day tomorrow- should be interesting; the forecast is calling for fog.

Dee and Bluenoser- here's hoping your day on the 50k Loop is crystal clear.

10 August, 2009

Could be....probably is- but it's also really fun to ride. I took delivery of my new bike last week and have had three rides since- just getting accustomed to the feel. And I have to say that even though my last bike and this one share the same name and model, there are more differences than similarities.

The new Tarmac Pro looks beefier through the down tube and bottom bracket area. The close geometry is pretty much the same but there doesn't seem to be as much flex when you jump on it. When you decide to go, it goes and takes you along for the ride.

Last Thursday morning a few of us were out for a bit of a spin- a couple of the group were tapering for one of our big road races on Sunday and just wanted to take it easy. We rode our normal circuit and as we made the turn from Thuringowa Drive onto Ross River Road to head back to the city, we caught a glimpse of some tail lights in the distance- one of the other groups had made their turn already and, well, it was a bit like the matador's cape to the bull.....all of a sudden it was on- Jimmy (who was not racing on Sunday) decided we had to catch them and I would say they had a good 700 metres on us. When Tony and Adrian (who both did race on Sunday) jumped in, I thought it was too good to miss and gave it a shot.

I looked at my bike computer after about 1.5km and we were doing 52km/hr.... does this bike go? You wanna believe it, just wished I had more fuel in the tank.

Saturday's coffee ride was our usual 28-30 km/hr cruise and as I crested the one little hill on the way, I decided to see how the new wheels rolled.....40.5 on a smallish hill that usually won't get me much above 37 on the old Tarmac.

I'm a fair way off being race fit after being knocked off by the car last month but I just might give it a go on Sunday- to see what the new steed can do. If nothing else, it will be another excuse to ride.

01 August, 2009

I'm celebrating my birthday with a whole bunch of Australians today. I don't know exactly how many and I would guess that in the majority of cases, they're probably not even aware of it. Today (1 August) is the date all racehorses in Australia have as their registered date of birth. As "Snobby", "BSNYC" or more formally, Bike Snob New York City might say, "Meh!"

Now, I don't know how the equine factor is celebrating their date de naissance (maybe they'll get an extra handful of oats in the feedbag tonight), but I'm sitting here with a glass or 8 of Australian chardonnay, watching a lovely North Queensland sunset, and looking forward to a bit of seafood chowder to finish off the day. "You can take the boy out of the Maritimes but you can't take the Maritimes out of the boy."

A gentle roll-out to the cafe this morning, a few chores around the house and yard, and a glass of the vintner's finest (well.........not exactly the finest but it will certainly do for me). Tomorrow is a race day but I'll just be fronting up to help out- no racing until I have the new bike. Later in the day will be a sunset cruise with some friends to celebrate (commiserate, inebriate, abdicate, illucidate, etc) Dee's and my collective 101st birthdays.